Hundreds of students from around the world gathered in New York City last week for the Microsoft Imagine Cup finals. They came to present their ideas for using technology to solve world problems.
Microsoft education director Suzi Levine says the nine-year-old program began mainly as a competition to create technology.
SUZI LEVINE: "When we realized that students really actually want to have a purpose for what they're creating, we introduced the idea of inspiring them with the UN Millennium Development Goals and suggesting that they use those for their muse(灵感). "This past year we also rolled out something called the Imagine Cup Solve This library（创新杯求解计划知识库）, where IGOs, NGOs and nonprofits can submit some of the technical challenges that they would like students to consider for their solutions."
Microsoft says over 350，000 high school and college students registered for this year's competition. Judges chose more than four hundred of them to attend the finals.
SUZI LEVINE: "One from Thailand was called NewKrean, where they created a Windows Phone 7 application that allows you to broadcast your location to your social network of friends so that you can be more easily rescued." They named their application Terra.
Suzi Levine says there were also ideas from Egypt inspired by the revolution that overthrew president Hosni Mubarak in February.
SUZI LEVINE: "One was to use Bluetooth as sort of a Twitter equivalent so that if the government shuts down the Internet, you actually can still have a massive social distribution."
Students competed in nine categories. For example, in software design the top prize of twenty-five thousand dollars went to Team Hermes from Ireland. The students developed a device for cars to collect information on road conditions, driving behavior and traffic incidents.
A team from Taiwan's National Tsing Hua University won first place in the embedded（内嵌的） development category. They developed a network of wireless devices to help plot the safest escape routes during a fire.
Next year's awards ceremony will take place in Australia. Registration for Imagine Cup twenty-twelve opened Friday. Also, Microsoft announced plans for a three million dollar program to help Imagine Cup winners further develop their projects.
1.Which of the following is true ?
A. The program is sponsored by Microsoft.
B .Next year, the awards ceremony will be held in New York City.
C. Any high school or college student can attend the finals.
D. The initial purpose of the program is to solve world problems using technology.
2.What can we infer from the third paragraph?
A. The UN offers great help to the program.
B. Microsoft sets up a library for the students who want to achieve their goals.
C. IGOs, NGOs and nonprofits also provide help for the students.
D. Microsoft takes effective measures to inspire the students.
3.What does the underlined word “overthrew ” in Paragraph 6 mean ?
A. Abandoned B. Supported C. Drove away D. Overturned
4.What can we know from Paragraph 7?
A. They want to replace Bluetooth with Twitter.
B. They want to combine Bluetooth with Twitter.
C. They want to replace Twitter with Bluetooth.
D. Twitter can still be used without the Internet.
People in the UK often talk about their homes: their mortgages (按揭), the interest rates, and rising prices. Here’s a guide to some of the words and phrases you might come across.
It’s a good idea in the UK to arrange a mortgage with a bank before you start looking. This is when the bank tells you how much money they will lend you so you have a good idea of how much you can afford.
The next step is to go to an estate agent and see what sort of properties they have available in your budget range and in your area. If you see something you like, the estate agent will arrange for you to view the property, so that you can see the house or flat for yourself.
If you see something that takes your eye, you put in an offer. The vendor (卖家) can accept or decline this offer, and if the vendor accepts it, you can move forward with the sale. However, as you don’t pay any money at this point, the offer isn’t legally binding (具有约束力), and in theory, you can pull out of the offer at any time that you like.
Your next step will probably be to get a structural survey done. A qualified surveyor will inspect the house and write a report that illustrates any structural problems, like damp or drainage problems.
If you still want to go ahead with the sale, you need to appoint a lawyer to do the legal paperwork.. If you already own a house, you might also be busy trying to sell it. Many house owners prefer to sell to first-time buyers (those people who don’t already own a home), as they are not in a chain (waiting for other people to buy the house before they can buy their next house).
Finally, once the contracts are signed and exchanged, you complete on your house. You get the keys and you can move in whenever you want. Then you might want to throw a house-warming party. Congratulations!
1.Which of the following shows the right order of what happens before the people in the UK move into a new house?
a. ask for a company which represents others of properties
b. decide how much to borrow from the bank
c. examine the structure of the house
d. hire a lawyer and make a contract
e. offer the seller the right money
f. visit the house and discuss a price with the seller
A. b, a, f, d, c, e B. b, a, f, c, d, e
C. b, a, f, e, d, c D. b, f, d, e, c, a
2.According to the passage, these statements are correct EXCEPT ___________.
A. People can borrow the whole money for a new house from a bank.
B. People care for mortgages, interest rates and the prices &house.
C. The sellers are more interested in the first-time buyers.
D. After getting the keys, the owners sometimes have a party.
3.Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A. Owners. B. Surveyors.
C. Lawyers. D. Collectors.
4.The passage is maybe one that _______________.
A. give some advice on the house B. introduces a book on travelers
C. give some tips to buyers D. introduces a guide to visitors
In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition she won last year.
As a writer I know about winning contests, and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip from the publisher. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the contest again? That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and dashed hopes can surface.
A revelation (启示) came last week when I asked her, “Don’t you want to win again?” “No,” she replied, “I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade.”
I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously (自发地) told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly “guided” by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.
Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting (借用) my daughter’s experience.
While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices.
1.What did the author say about her own writing experience?
A. She was constantly under pressure of writing more.
B. Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers.
C. Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations.
D. She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer.
2.Why did Rebecca want to enter this year’s writing contest?
A. She wanted to share her stories with readers.
B. She had won a prize in the previous contest.
C. She was sure of winning with her mother’s help.
D. She believed she possessed real talent for writing.
3.The author took great pains to refine her daughter’s stories because ________.
A. she wanted to help Rebecca realize her dream of becoming a writer
B. she believed she had the knowledge and experience to offer guidance
C. she did not want to disappoint Rebecca who needed her help so much
D. she was afraid Rebecca’s imagination might run wild while writing
4.What’s the author’s advice for parents?
A. Children should be given every chance to voice their opinions.
B. Children should be allowed freedom to grow through experience.
C. Parents should keep an eye on the activities their kids engage in.
D. A writing career, though attractive, is not for every child to pursue.
阅读下面短文，撑握其大意，然后从各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
I had a friend who visited me from out of town and I wanted to show him the CN Tower. It was one of the tallest structures on the earth. So I thought it would offer a (n) 36 sight.
We were standing in line for 45minutes to enjoy the 37 up to the watch point. When we got there, we went around the 38 of the tower and saw the hard wire fence 39 to the structure serving as a barrier. We went back inside to look for the glass floor that provided a direct view 40 . As soon as both of us 41 , we stopped before walking onto it. We found that our legs began to 42 . I stopped for a minute 你 who have stood on it before.”I began to 46 that step onto the glass floor. I didn’t look down — 47 not for a few minutes.
I walked on the 48 and looked around and thought about how 49 the experience was. I even found myself jumping up and down. There was no 50 , and it was certainly an illusion.
I considered how many things in our lives we 51 and exactly how many of them are actually illusions. I thought about all the things we 52 ourselves from doing because we have 53 ourselves into thinking there’s risk. I thought about all the things that I still have yet to do that appeared 54 . I was glad to discover that although fear isn’t a stranger to me, my desire to live a life without 55 has a much stronger pull.
1.A．expressive B．impressive C．frightening D．beneficial
2.A．bus B．ladder C．car D．elevator
3.A．outside B．top C．center D．surface
4.A．connected B．surrounded C．referred D．combined
5.A．around B．up C．down D．out
6.A．understood B．approached C．talked D．returned
7.A．wave B．move C．tremble D．wander
8.A．look over B．think over C．look up D．think up
9.A．tighter B．taller C．weaker D．stronger
10.A．happily B．simply C．greatly D．relatively
11.A．take B．choose C．decide D．pick
12.A．at most B．at least C．at last D．at best
13.A．fence B．floor C．edge D．tower
14.A．grateful B．useful C．wonderful D．helpful
15.A．death B．warn C．trouble D．danger
16.A．handle B．ignore C．fear D．hide
17.A．block B．protect C．help D．separate
18.A．forced B．advised C．entered D．led
19.A．amazing B．worrying C．exciting D．interesting
20.A．cost B．doubt C．regret D．waste
–Do you think that we should make preparations for the competition in advance?
-– Exactly. ______.
A. Actions speak louder than words
B. Fight no battle unprepared
C. Better late than never
D. A good beginning is half done
-–Mary knows the city quite well.
--She______ well have been there before.
A. need B. could C. should D. may
